Rarity Blackouts and Xmas Bird Count Helpers

First, I agree that announcing unviewable rarities is a bad idea. It may create unneeded stress and anxiety reactions on our bodies. So let me suggest a

Message 1 of 4
, Dec 7, 2011

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First, I agree that announcing "unviewable" rarities is a bad idea. It may create unneeded stress and anxiety reactions on our bodies. So let me suggest a reasonable time period for withholding this information. The average birder is 50 years old (http://library.fws.gov/pubs/birding_natsurvey06.pdf), so let's say a 50 year blackout period should be our rule. That way, we won't hear about the particular rarity during most birder's lifetimes, and if we live past 100, we probably won't care!

On another note, let me post my annual plea for people to participate in Christmas Bird Counts (below).

Joel Weintraub
Dana Point

CBC Counts: We need everyone's help

My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?" When it
comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
Counts, those categories seem to fit well.

There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year. These birders not only
get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
the occasion as a learning and social experience. There is always
something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.

A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
thoughts on the matter include: by force of numbers we make our
presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
and thus represent a political force; publicity generated by such
counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
awareness of conservation problems and land preservation; we show
that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
weather on bird populations; as urbanization increases, the
information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
introduced species; it continues a tradition started on 25 December
1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
our mental and physical health; and everyone who participates
probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
(and good species and friendships found).

So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
coverage teams. It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
extra pair of eyes and data-takers.

Paul Keller

Thank you, Joel, for your reasoned and passionate call for Christmas Bird Count participation. But let s get real. The demands of the Holiday Season

Message 2 of 4
, Dec 7, 2011

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Thank you, Joel, for your reasoned and passionate call for Christmas
Bird Count participation. But let's get real. The demands of the
Holiday Season discourages so many from thinking about participating
in other activities. I, for example, have to forgo participation in
three on my local counts owing to holiday family visits. Not all
traditions are worth preserving. I say, change the Christmas Bird
Count to the Winter Bird Count and delay all counts by three weeks.

Paul Keller
Vandenberg Village, SB

On 2011 Dec 7, at 1:43 PM, wagtail1997 wrote:

> First, I agree that announcing "unviewable" rarities is a bad idea.
> It may create unneeded stress and anxiety reactions on our bodies.
> So let me suggest a reasonable time period for withholding this
> information. The average birder is 50 years old (http://
> library.fws.gov/pubs/birding_natsurvey06.pdf), so let's say a 50
> year blackout period should be our rule. That way, we won't hear
> about the particular rarity during most birder's lifetimes, and if
> we live past 100, we probably won't care!
>
> On another note, let me post my annual plea for people to
> participate in Christmas Bird Counts (below).
>
> Joel Weintraub
> Dana Point
>
> CBC Counts: We need everyone's help
>
> My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
> world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
> and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?" When it
> comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
> Counts, those categories seem to fit well.
>
> There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
> memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
> in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
> but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year. These birders not only
> get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
> the occasion as a learning and social experience. There is always
> something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
> beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.
>
> A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
> thoughts on the matter include: by force of numbers we make our
> presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
> and thus represent a political force; publicity generated by such
> counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
> awareness of conservation problems and land preservation; we show
> that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
> segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
> tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
> conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
> rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
> determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
> weather on bird populations; as urbanization increases, the
> information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
> introduced species; it continues a tradition started on 25 December
> 1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
> a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
> same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
> circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
> one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
> holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
> participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
> events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
> us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
> new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
> justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
> our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
> our mental and physical health; and everyone who participates
> probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
> (and good species and friendships found).
>
> So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
> procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
> coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
> coverage teams. It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
> extra pair of eyes and data-takers.
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@yahoogroups.com
>
> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My
> Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank
> email to these addresses:
> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail@yahoogroups.com
> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

Bob & Carol Yutzy

I agree re: postponing the timeline as it is such a crazy time at Christmas. But since many people take time off from work around Christmas and New Year s,

Message 3 of 4
, Dec 7, 2011

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I agree re: postponing the timeline as it is such a crazy time at
Christmas. But since many people take time off from work around
Christmas and New Year's, they have time to do a count or two. If the
counts were held later AND held during the work week (for those who work
a "standard" work week) I don't think there would be as many
participants then.

Tis' a Catch 22 of sorts.

Happy Counting to All,

Bob Yutzy
Shasta, CA

On 12/7/2011 7:19 PM, Paul Keller wrote:
> Thank you, Joel, for your reasoned and passionate call for Christmas
> Bird Count participation. But let's get real. The demands of the
> Holiday Season discourages so many from thinking about participating
> in other activities. I, for example, have to forgo participation in
> three on my local counts owing to holiday family visits. Not all
> traditions are worth preserving. I say, change the Christmas Bird
> Count to the Winter Bird Count and delay all counts by three weeks.
>
> Paul Keller
> Vandenberg Village, SB
> On 2011 Dec 7, at 1:43 PM, wagtail1997 wrote:
>
>> First, I agree that announcing "unviewable" rarities is a bad idea.
>> It may create unneeded stress and anxiety reactions on our bodies.
>> So let me suggest a reasonable time period for withholding this
>> information. The average birder is 50 years old (http://
>> library.fws.gov/pubs/birding_natsurvey06.pdf), so let's say a 50
>> year blackout period should be our rule. That way, we won't hear
>> about the particular rarity during most birder's lifetimes, and if
>> we live past 100, we probably won't care!
>>
>> On another note, let me post my annual plea for people to
>> participate in Christmas Bird Counts (below).
>>
>> Joel Weintraub
>> Dana Point
>>
>> CBC Counts: We need everyone's help
>>
>> My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
>> world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
>> and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?" When it
>> comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
>> Counts, those categories seem to fit well.
>>
>> There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
>> memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
>> in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
>> but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year. These birders not only
>> get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
>> the occasion as a learning and social experience. There is always
>> something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
>> beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.
>>
>> A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
>> thoughts on the matter include: by force of numbers we make our
>> presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
>> and thus represent a political force; publicity generated by such
>> counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
>> awareness of conservation problems and land preservation; we show
>> that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
>> segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
>> tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
>> conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
>> rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
>> determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
>> weather on bird populations; as urbanization increases, the
>> information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
>> introduced species; it continues a tradition started on 25 December
>> 1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
>> a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
>> same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
>> circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
>> one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
>> holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
>> participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
>> events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
>> us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
>> new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
>> justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
>> our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
>> our mental and physical health; and everyone who participates
>> probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
>> (and good species and friendships found).
>>
>> So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
>> procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
>> coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
>> coverage teams. It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
>> extra pair of eyes and data-takers.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
>> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My
>> Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank
>> email to these addresses:
>> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail@yahoogroups.com
>> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@yahoogroups.com
>
> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank email to these addresses:
> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail@yahoogroups.com
> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

--
Bob& Carol Yutzy
Shasta, CA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Naturestoc@aol.com

Another possible option, if any changes are possible, would be to extend the count period by one week. This would be particularly helpful in the years that the

Message 4 of 4
, Dec 7, 2011

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Another possible option, if any changes are possible, would be to extend the count period by one week. This would be particularly helpful in the years that the holidays fall on the weekends! So many counts these days!!

I agree re: postponing the timeline as it is such a crazy time at
Christmas. But since many people take time off from work around
Christmas and New Year's, they have time to do a count or two. If the
counts were held later AND held during the work week (for those who work
a "standard" work week) I don't think there would be as many
participants then.

Tis' a Catch 22 of sorts.

Happy Counting to All,

Bob Yutzy
Shasta, CA

On 12/7/2011 7:19 PM, Paul Keller wrote:
> Thank you, Joel, for your reasoned and passionate call for Christmas
> Bird Count participation. But let's get real. The demands of the
> Holiday Season discourages so many from thinking about participating
> in other activities. I, for example, have to forgo participation in
> three on my local counts owing to holiday family visits. Not all
> traditions are worth preserving. I say, change the Christmas Bird
> Count to the Winter Bird Count and delay all counts by three weeks.
>
> Paul Keller
> Vandenberg Village, SB
> On 2011 Dec 7, at 1:43 PM, wagtail1997 wrote:
>
>> First, I agree that announcing "unviewable" rarities is a bad idea.
>> It may create unneeded stress and anxiety reactions on our bodies.
>> So let me suggest a reasonable time period for withholding this
>> information. The average birder is 50 years old (http://
>> library.fws.gov/pubs/birding_natsurvey06.pdf), so let's say a 50
>> year blackout period should be our rule. That way, we won't hear
>> about the particular rarity during most birder's lifetimes, and if
>> we live past 100, we probably won't care!
>>
>> On another note, let me post my annual plea for people to
>> participate in Christmas Bird Counts (below).
>>
>> Joel Weintraub
>> Dana Point
>>
>> CBC Counts: We need everyone's help
>>
>> My late brother used to say there were three types of people in the
>> world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen,
>> and those that open up their eyes and say "What happened?" When it
>> comes to participation (or lack of it) in the annual Christmas Bird
>> Counts, those categories seem to fit well.
>>
>> There are a cadre of birders, in the minority when compared to the
>> memberships we see in birding Yahoo groups and local Audubon Societies
>> in our area, that carry the "load" and participate in not just one,
>> but multiple Christmas Bird Counts each year. These birders not only
>> get a "high" by using their skills for citizen science, but also use
>> the occasion as a learning and social experience. There is always
>> something to learn from the experienced field observer to the
>> beginning birder, and there is always a place for both on Count day.
>>
>> A Google search on reasons for participating in the Count and my own
>> thoughts on the matter include: by force of numbers we make our
>> presence known among the citizens and politicians of our communities
>> and thus represent a political force; publicity generated by such
>> counts appears in newspapers and other media and elevates public
>> awareness of conservation problems and land preservation; we show
>> that non-consumptive use of wildlife is just as important to a large
>> segment of the public as people who hunt the same species we might
>> tally; population data accumulated from the Counts support bird
>> conservation initiatives; the information can be used to test success
>> rates of reintroduction efforts; information accumulated is used to
>> determine the effects of disease (such as the West Nile Virus) and
>> weather on bird populations; as urbanization increases, the
>> information is crucial for seeing population trends in our native and
>> introduced species; it continues a tradition started on 25 December
>> 1900 by Frank Chapman and 26 other concerned citizens in 13 states as
>> a response to a traditional indiscriminate killing of birds around the
>> same date; you join over 50,000 other birders doing over 1800 count
>> circles who show their love of bird watching with their participation;
>> one individual can make a difference in these types of counts; it is a
>> holiday tradition, and for our own mental health, we need to
>> participate, encourage others to participate, and maintain such
>> events; it's a small payback we can make to a hobby that gives many of
>> us a great amount of satisfaction; it gives us a chance to try out our
>> new gadgets... digital cameras, new binoculars, ipods, etc. and
>> justify the cost to our families (and ourselves); it gets us away from
>> our televisions and computer monitors and into the field and improves
>> our mental and physical health; and everyone who participates
>> probably has additional reasons and individual stories of past events
>> (and good species and friendships found).
>>
>> So...don't be in the group that watches things happen by others or
>> procrastinates about missing happenings, and contact the regional
>> coordinators of Orange County's Christmas Bird Counts for placement on
>> coverage teams. It's not too late and many teams I know could use an
>> extra pair of eyes and data-takers.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
>> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My
>> Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank
>> email to these addresses:
>> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail@yahoogroups.com
>> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Unsubscribe: mailto:CALBIRDS-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CALBIRDS
> Listowners: mailto:CALBIRDS-owner@yahoogroups.com
>
> For vacation suspension of mail go to the website. Click on Edit My Membership and set your mail option to No Email. Or, send a blank email to these addresses:
> Turn off email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-nomail@yahoogroups.com
> Resume email delivery: mailto:CALBIRDS-normal@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

--
Bob& Carol Yutzy
Shasta, CA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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